Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gardening

What you need to know about growing hedges for privacy

Use these tips to plant a hedge for privacy in your yard or garden

By
A tall privacy hedge beside a garden path with two smaller round hedges
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hedges have plenty of uses in a garden or yard. They can divide your garden into sections or provide extra shade for some sensitive plants. One of the most popular uses for a hedge is privacy.

Whether you’re trying to shield your garden from prying eyes or put a break between your yard and a road, growing a hedge for privacy is easy and can help make your garden a relaxing place to spend time. If that sounds ideal, then keep reading! We’ll walk you through how to grow hedges for privacy or aesthetics.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

1 hour

What You Need

  • Pruning shears

  • Shrubs

  • Fertilizer

  • Hedge trimmer

A short privacy hedge next to a table and set of chairs
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Choosing the right plants for your hedge

While any shrub can turn into a hedge, some are better suited for the job than others. When growing a privacy hedge, in particular, you want a shrub with dense branches. Compact growth stops prying eyes from peeking through, but it also helps absorb sound, which is especially useful if you live near a busy road.

Height is important to consider as well. For the average privacy hedge, look for shrubs that grow to 4 to 8 feet tall. If you need a taller hedge, then you might need to look into trees or install a fence instead.

The best shrubs for hedges are:

  • American holly
  • Boxwood
  • Yew
  • Laurel
Planting a tree
azem / Shutterstock

Planting your hedge

Growing a hedge is easy, as long as you start it off right. Here’s what you should do:

Step 1: Space your hedges using the minimum distance.

Every plant has a minimum distance they need to be from another plant. If you plant them any closer together, they could fail to thrive, as their roots could compete for resources. However, a privacy hedge isn’t very effective if there are large gaps in it. So, when planting your hedge, space each shrub just far enough apart.

Step 2: Plant the shrub in a hole the same size as the root ball, but slightly wider.

The entire root ball should be covered once the shrub is in the ground. Making the hole slightly wider helps improve stability and it allows you to shift the shrub around to be sure it's straight.

Related

Step 3: Water your shrubs in.

A hedge trimmer trimming a hedge
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Maintaining your hedge

Once your shrubs are planted and growing, here’s how to maintain them:

Step 1: Fertilize your shrubs in early spring.

Step 2: Use pruning shears to remove damaged or diseased branches.

Step 3: Trim the tops and sides of the shrubs with a hedge trimmer to keep them the size and shape you want.

A flat top and overall boxy shape is traditional, but if a rounded or conical shape suits your garden or aesthetics then go for it!

Now you’re ready to pick up a few shrubs and grow a hedge for privacy. Whether you’re planning on creating a small hedge to border one side of your yard or surrounding your entire outdoor space, these tips will help you along.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard
Contributor
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
Freesia care: What you need to know about these fragrant flowers
Growing freesia flowers in your home or garden
White freesia flowers

Flowers are a beautiful way to add color and visual interest to any home or garden, but they can be a delight for your other senses. as well. While textured plants can be fun to touch, and some plants will rattle in the wind, scent is the sense most commonly associated with flowers. Not all flowers have strong or pleasant scents, but freesia flowers have a lovely smell. If you want to add this gorgeous and fragrant flower to your garden, here's everything you need to know.
What are freesia flowers?

Freesias are perennial flowers in the iris family. They resemble their cousins, having long narrow stems like an iris and colorful cup-shaped flowers like a crocus. Freesia flowers can be almost any color, and while most varieties are solid colors, there are a few two-toned varieties. Like other plants in their family, freesias can grow from corms or from seeds, but they typically grow from bulbs, as it's quicker.

Read more
6 types of gourds you should know this fall season
Gourds that add seasonal spirit to your fall garden
A variety of squash types set on a black table

From pumpkins to watermelons, there are many incredible gourds you can grow in your garden. While some gourds are ready to be harvested in summer or winter, fall is the season most often associated with gourds -- and for good reason. Some of the most popular fall decorations are gourds, including pumpkins and many types of squash. What should you do if you want something a little more unusual, though? We have a list of six fun and unique types of gourds you should know about to get you started.
Speckled swan gourds

Speckled swan gourds are a type of calabash or bottle gourd, named for their distinctive shape. With a round base and long, curved neck, they resemble swans when placed upright. Speckled swan gourds are typically dark green with lighter green or cream-colored speckles or markings.

Read more
Hickory trees: Everything you want to know about these hardwoods
Growing a gorgeous hickory tree
Hickory tree branches

Trees are incredible plants with many fantastic benefits. Their roots keep the soil from washing away, they provide food and shelter for people and animals, and they are particularly good at absorbing carbon dioxide. If you want to plant a tree in your yard for one or more of these benefits, one of your options is to plant a hickory tree. Hickory trees are lovely, they're fairly easy to grow, and there are several excellent species you can choose from. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Why should you grow hickory trees?

Hickory trees offer the benefits that most trees do, such as preventing soil erosion and absorbing CO2, but there are a few additional benefits that are good to know. Hickory nuts are a great food source for wildlife during fall and winter, and you can eat them, too. Aside from bitternut hickory trees, which, true to their name, produce incredibly bitter nuts, hickory nuts are described as rich, sweet, and similar to pecans. This is actually because pecan trees are in the hickory family.

Read more